Tournament poker, played for example over the internet, has become quite popular in recent years. Such tournaments may continue for exorbitantly long hours before completion and the determination of final winners. Consequently, some players may, for one reason or another, wish to leave the tournament before the tournament is completed. However, in many cases, a player that withdraws from a tournament before the tournament is over loses any value associated with his or her chip position.
The ability to cash-out for a small discount to the expected value of a participant's chip position at any time in a tournament may have significant appeal to players that may have to leave the tournament for one reason or another or participants that simply wish to stop playing and receive a fair value for their chip position. For example, a player may enter a tournament with a “buy in” of for example, one thousand dollars and begin the tournament with a corresponding chip count or position, e.g., one thousand dollars in chips. Assuming that the player is successful, as the tournament progresses and other players are eliminated, the player's chip position may increase to, for example, three thousand dollars. At this point, the player may wish to withdraw from the tournament and receive the fair value of his chip position, less a discount or penalty for withdrawing from the tournament.